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My Daddy is a Hero: How Chris Watts Went from Family Man to Family Killer
My Daddy is a Hero: How Chris Watts Went from Family Man to Family Killer | Lena Derhally
10 posts | 7 read | 18 to read
A husband.A father. A killer.Chris Watts was a family man. Everybody, including his family, believed that. Yet, on August 13, 2018, he murdered Shanann, his pregnant wife, and two young daughters, burying Shanann and their unborn son in a shallow grave and dumping their daughters' bodies in separate oil tanks.As terrible as his story is, it is also a warning because, to this day, living behind bars, Watts is still acting out the character traits that made him kill in the first place.In this, the first and only psychological exploration of the Watts family murders, psychotherapist Lena Derhally has pieced together the crime, the events leading to it, and most of all, her beliefs about the "why," including the fact that Chris Watts--now a self-described "man of God"--is not in the least remorseful about killing his family. Using police discovery and other sources, Derhally recreates the night of the murders and the investigation that followed. She explores the childhoods, families of origin, meeting, and early relationship of Shanann and Chris Watts. She also examines Watts's double life and duplicity regarding his well-publicized affair with a co-worker, who, although she claimed their affair was casual, was searching online for wedding dresses at the time of the murders.The book includes an in-depth look at community psychopaths, the different subtypes of narcissism, how to prevent this type of violence, and interviews with a neuroscientist, a criminal psychologist, and a journalist in order to determine what in Watts's twisted makeup allowed him to hide who he really is for so long. Using her knowledge of attachment theory, Imago relationship theory, and psychopathology, Derhally draws a profile of the real Chris Watts and--just as important--she warns readers that he is still a danger today.
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review
Lizpixie
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Mehso-so

Bk7 of #JumpStart2023 & Bk3 of #JoyousJanuary #readathon is done! I finished this one on Thursday night but been haven‘t been on till now. Listened to this while #audiojournaling it wasn‘t a bad insight into Chris Watts personality, but the narrator was awful, which is why it‘s a so-so. At least I got some challenges in my bujo. #BookspinBingo #NonFictionBingo

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! Love your bujo spreads!! 2y
Andrew65 Sounds good, well done 👏👏👏 2y
Clwojick Looks great! 2y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Beautiful journal pages! 2y
42 likes4 comments
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Lizpixie
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Currently doing some more #audiojournaling as I‘ve somehow ended up with a list of about 50-60 #ReadingChallenges for 2023. And I might have gone a little crazy acquiring a #stationeryhaul that may or may not be larger than what is in this picture🤦🏻‍♀️And I‘m no artist!! Why do I do this to myself?!? #JumpStart2023 #JoyousJanuary #readathon

wanderinglynn That looks awesome! 😍 2y
Chrissyreadit Looks like fun! 2y
Clwojick I‘m the exact same! I do this every year! 😂 2y
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Lynnsoprano I‘m the same way! I love the stuff, even though I have no visual art skills 😂 2y
KateReadsYA Anything you create is a part of you so it'll be beautiful 🥰 2y
Andrew65 50 - 60! wow! Go you!!! Good luck! #TeamLizPixie 2y
GondorGirl I've spent most of this week listening to audiobooks while I set up my reading journal for the year. I'm glad I'm not the only one with a few too many markers... 😅 2y
64 likes1 stack add7 comments
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MidnightBookGirl
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#LittensDressedInBlood Today's prompt is He Did It (which happens to be my new favorite Taylor Swift song).

I decided to pick a non-fiction for this prompt just to avoid spoilers. Also, Chris Watts at first tried to blame his daughter's deaths on his wife, which angered me to no end. I think the author also did a good of explaining how someone like Chris Watts, who had no violent tendencies, could have become a family annihilator.

52 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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kimmypete1
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Pickpick

Such an intriguing and messed up crime. Most disturbing part for me was Chris' comments that he could tell there was a different amount of oil in the two tanks based on the sounds his girls made when he dropped them in. *shudder*

Book 3 for #AnyWayYouReadathon @eggbeater @midnightbookgirl

#BookSpin @TheAromaofBooks

MidnightBookGirl He is the worst. 4y
10 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Samary
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Mehso-so

Disturbing and informative. Trigger warnings for violence and abuse.

The Netflix documentary about this case is descent. The book goes further into the psychopathy behind people like Chris Watts and gives red flags to look out for in relationships. This solidified something I learned a long time ago, love is not enough! Just because you love someone doesn‘t mean they are right for you. Don‘t put up w crap!

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MidnightBookGirl
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Pickpick

This is the second book on Chris Watts that I've read recently. The first part of the book tells the story of what happened, and second part is Derhally's theories of how Watts, who had seemed to be a great husband and father, could murder his pregnant wife and two little girls. Suddenly Chris Watts is less of mystery- the reasons he pursued Shannan turning into the reasons he resented her, and how the arrival of a new love obliterated his family.

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CoffeeK8
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A slow but good #bookreport for this week
6 books total - 4 print and 2 audio
2 library books

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Bklover
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Pickpick

This book has basically two sections- the complete rundown of the details of the relationship and murder of Shanann, Bela, and CeCe Watts by Chris Watts; and the psychological analysis of Chris Watts by the author. The first half didn‘t present much new information (at least to someone as obsessed as I am with this case) but was still a well done presentation of the facts. The second part discusses the psychological possibilities for the crime⬇️

Bklover and gives some clear descriptions of the possibilities for the psyche of Watts. This part was fascinating to me. Very descriptive of the murders of children, so trigger warnings. I completely agree with your review @Reviewsbylola ! (edited) 5y
Reviewsbylola I agree, I didn‘t really learn anything new about the actual crime but she laid it out perfectly! 5y
Bklover @Reviewsbylola I had a hard time with the second part- I kept thinking “I can be like that sometimes!” 😳🙄. It‘s like googling diseases. I have them all. 5y
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LeahBergen Yep! I‘ll be needing this one. Thanks for tagging me in your review! 5y
Bklover @LeahBergen Do you want my copy? You can have it if you like. I could mail it to you. Msslltt at gmail. 5y
LeahBergen @Bklover What a lovely offer but I live in Canada. I‘m sure you don‘t want to send it internationally. 5y
Bklover @LeahBergen I wonder how much it costs? I‘ll have to check it out. 5y
Bklover @LeahBergen I just did some googling and it is pretty expensive! I‘m so sorry! 5y
LeahBergen @Bklover Oh, no worries at all! You don‘t want to spend more than the book costs on shipping, right? But thank you all the same! 😘 5y
82 likes7 stack adds9 comments
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Reviewsbylola
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Pickpick

Clearly I will read any book published about this case (barring utter garbage obviously.)

I just finished the tagged book. The author does not have the personal relationship with Chris Watts that the other author Cadle does, so you don‘t get his perspective (for what it‘s worth, I don‘t trust much that Watts says anyway.) however, the author is a psychotherapist, so she is able to give professional insight into possible diagnoses and explain ⬇️

Reviewsbylola how and why the murders occurred. I think the most chilling thing about it is Denhally posits that Chris Watts has never had the ability to create meaningful relationships with anyone—his entire life was a lie, and that there were absolutely no signs to warn Shan‘ann that her life and the lives of her babies were in mortal danger. I think we often want hindsight to show that the signs were there if we looked hard enough, but that‘s not the case. 5y
Dolly Sounds fascinating. 5y
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JenReadsAlot I'm going to have to check this one out! 5y
Bklover Well, this sounds like it might have something new to add that I haven‘t already read. Mine should be arriving soon. Can‘t wait! 5y
LeahBergen Oh, good. I‘ll give it a read then. Your review of the book on the right deterred me. 😄 5y
Reviewsbylola I definitely thought it added a new perspective. @bklover 5y
Reviewsbylola The nice thing about the tagged book is it goes over a lot of the info Watts provided Cadle that was in her book, so you can get that insight without reading Cadle‘s book. @LeahBergen 5y
LeahBergen See? Perfect. 😉 5y
56 likes1 stack add9 comments
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Reviewsbylola
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My #bookmail today can be blamed, in part, on @LeahBergen , who gave me the heads up that a new book about Chris Watts was just released. Clearly, I intend to buy any and every book about this case.

@Bklover I thought you may want a heads up!

Bklover THANKS!!! On my way to order my copy. I am obsessed as well. At least it‘s both of us! 5y
Bklover Ordered and on its way to me! Thanks!❤️❤️❤️. And thanks to @LeahBergen too! (edited) 5y
LeahBergen @Reviewsbylola @Bklover I‘ll wait to order it until after you two have weighed in. 😆 5y
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Reviewsbylola I‘m halfway thru. So far, I‘m pretty impressed. The editing is iffy as far as spelling/grammatical issues here and there. And I wouldn‘t say it has any new info, but I think the author has done an excellent job of laying out the crime in a thoughtful manner and I haven‘t even gotten to what I hope will be the best part—the author using her professional background to explain Chris Watts and his crime from a psychological standpoint. @LeahBergen 5y
Reviewsbylola ⬆️⬆️ @Bklover 5y
LeahBergen Oh, good to hear. 👍🏻 5y
67 likes2 stack adds6 comments